National Republican., 1887-05-24
DEATH OF BEN HILL.
A Grand Tribute from the Living to
the Dead.

tuS
As n specimen Of how grand tribute can
be paid by the living to the dead, and OF
the beauties Of the English language, we
give the speech made in the United states
Senate by Senator John j. Ingalls,, Of Kan
sas, on the death of Senator "Ben" Hill, OF
Georgia:
Ben Hill has gone to the undiscovered
country.
Whether his Journey thither was but one
step across an imperceptible frontier, or
whether an intermirable ocean, black, un-
iluctuating, and volceless, stretches between
these earthly coasts and those invisible
shores, we do not know.
Whether on that August morning after
death he saw more glorious sunrise, with
unimaginable splendor above a celestial
horizon, or whether his apathetlc and un-
conscious ashes still sleep In cold obstruc-
tion and insensible oblivion, we do not
know.
Whether his strong and subtle energies
found instant exercise 10 another forum,
whether his dextrous and disciplined
faculties are now contending In higher
senate than ours for supremacy, or whether
his powers were dissipated aud dispersed
with his parting breath, we do not know.
Whether his passions, ambitions, and
affections still sway, attract, and impel,
W0eJnpr 0b yeb us us we
member hlm-we do not know.
These are the unsoved, the insoluble
problems of mortal life and human destiny,
which prompted the troubled patriarch to
ask that momentous question for which
the centuries have given no answer-"If
man die shall he live agairS"
Every man Is the center of a circle whose
fatal circumference he cannot pass. Within
its arrow confines he Is potential; beyond
1t he perishes, and II immortality be a
splendid but delusive dream, II the incom-
peteness of every career, even the longest
and most fortunate, be not supplemented
and perfected after It's termination here,
then he who breads to die should fear to
live, for life is tragedy more desolate and
inexplicable than death.
or all the dead whose obsequies we have
paused to solemnize In this chamber recall
no one whose untimely fate seems to la
mentable, and yet so rich in prophecy OF
eternal life, as that of Senator Hill. He
had reached the IN mJridlan Of his years. He
stood upon the high plateau Of middle life,
in that serene atmosphere where tempta-
tion no longer assails, where the clamorous
passions no more distract, and where the
conditions are most favorable for noble
and enduring achievement. His upward
path had been through stormy adversely
and contention, such as infrequently falls
to the lot of men. Though not without the
tendency to meditation, reverie, and in
trospection which accompanies genius, his
temperament was palestine. He was com
petitive and unpeaceful. He was born po.
lemic and controversialist, intellectually
pugnacious and combative, SO that he was
impelled to defend any position that might
be assailed or to attack any position that
might be intrenched, not because the de-.
fense or the assault were essential, but be-
cause the positions were maintaine ed and
hot ,pbn halI than, bana mn hy hot
fact alone his adversaries. This tendency
of his nature made his orbit erratic rather
than planetary, and flashed with irregular
splendor rather than shone with steady and
penetrating rays. His advocacy Of any
cause was fearless to the verge OF temerity.
He appeared to be Indifferent to applause
or censure for their own sake. He
accepted intrepidly any conclusions that he
reached, without inguiring whether they
were polite or eXpedient.
To such spirit partisanship was un-
avoidable, but with Senator Hill it did not
degenerate into bigotry. He was capable
of broad generosity, and extended to bis
opponents the same unreserved candor
which he demanded for himself. His
oratory was impetuous and devoid of arti-
flee. lie was not posturer nor phrase
monger. He was too intense, too earnest,
to employ the cheap and paltry decorations
Of discourse. He never reconnoitered a
hostile position nor approached 1t by
stealthy parallels. He could not lay siege
to an enemy, nor beleaguer him, nor open
trenches, and sap and mine. His method
was the charge and the onset He was the
Murat OF senatorial debate. Not many
men Of this generation have been better
equipped tor parliamentary warfare than
he, with his commanding presence, his
sinewy diction, his confident and imper-
turbable self. control.
But in the maturity of his powers and
his fame, with unmeasured opportunities
for achievement apparently before him,
with great designs unaccomplished, sur
rounded by the proud and affectionate So
licitude of a great constituency, the pallid
messenger with the inverted torch beckoned
him to depart. There are few scenes In his.
tory more tragic than that protracted COM
bat with death. No man had greater in
ducements to live. But in the lony strug-
gle against the inexorable advances OF an
insdious and mortal malady he did not fall
ter nor repine. He retreated with the aspect
of victor, and though he succumbed, he
seemed to conquer. His sun went down at
noon, but it sank amid the prophetic splen-
dors of an eternal dawn. With more than
a hero's courage, with more than martyrs
forttude, he waited the approach OF the in
evitable hour and went to the undiscovered
country.